climbing technique and theory for a noob

We were at the local wall last week, stubbornly throwing ourselves up the routes by any means necessary, discovering stuff that was beyond us etc..

When out of nowhere a little quiet dude with a faraway look in his eye came over and offered a few pointers..
A leg thrown out as a counterbalance here and a lean to the left there and that hold that had previously been unreachable was suddenly right by my ear..

It was ironic as a few days previously we had scoffed at the idea of learning how to climb, it was clearly something that you just did or didn't do..

So are there any good online resources or books available on learning some basic climbing technique..?

theres tons of stuff. ukclimbing or ukbouldering has lots of links and as said above they are like us, a nice bitchy/jokey bunch, you've been warned.

I was about to write a top ten list of techniques and then realised theres SO very many. hmmm. just remember it isnt about arm strength, its about core strength, finger and forearm strength, balance, footwork and flexibility. If yer a cyclist the flexibility will be your downfall.

It's always best to climb as part of a group and learn from the good 'uns.

Not just the prepubescent rock monkeys who are made out of rubber; but the grizzled old stagers who seem to slither up a face with little obvious effort and can keep going all day. Conservation of effort takes some practice.

It's always best to climb as part of a group and learn from the good 'uns.

This. I had the pleasure of being taught how to climb by my Dad, who was a very active -and very good - rock climber in the "golden days" of Brown, Whillans et al. He also has no body fat, is still pretty strong and would no doubt still out-climb me using his sneaky old skool techniques he's not (yet) passed my way.

climb with women - they don't have quite the same natural ability for chin-ups, so they tend to climb with something called skill.

USE YOUR FEET! - you're a beginner, you should be on easy-ish stuff, if your arms are getting tired then you're doing it wrong (ie, not using your feet), when you figure out how to do this, let me know.

It's like bike training - some of the techniques are quite hard to understand until you actually get shown them properly with the chance to feel how they make a difference. It's like trying to explain pump and flow.

I used to be a complete brute force climber until I gave it up for a while, lost all my finger (and most of my arm) strength. When I came back to it, I had to learn all the little tricks, foot and body positioning that I'd steadfastly ignored up until then.

So, hang around the wall like a stalker until you see a small group trying the problems you're failing on, then latch on like a parasite...

Just get some time spent on rock or plastic and build up your climbing strength and stamina. This will give you the base you need to develop the technique. I'd climb at least twice a week.
If you have a bouldering wall then work some problems with other people and you'll soon see how they climb and you'll learn quickly.

At ClimbNewcastle they are all pretty good climbers and very approachable, they'll happily show you a move if you get stuck on something and give the odd pointer here and there. From those vids posted of Suzane it shows the importance of flexibility and also watching your foot, placing weight on it then looking for the next move. She makes it look very easy.

What those vids also show is how well she places her feet - the only time you hear a foot knocking against the plywood is when she puts one out for balance, or when the lower foot moves off a hold. Her foot placements on the holds are all precise and where they need to be without bouncing around or readjusting.

She's also precise with hands as well (no slapping around or readjusting), although that's harder for beginner climbers to work on, as it mostly comes from having a lot of contact strength.

The other thing to notice from the vids of her and Ondra is how good climbers position their bodies in relation to the holds. Both of them move from side to side to ensure that they're always in the best possible position relative to the holds.

Looks to be some nice 3D problems on that wall. As for getting better, climb more, think less for one. Getting some mileage in will embed the moves and build up your library of moves and body positions. Beyond that, just boulder with other people, get chatting, most people are happy to share. Like you did right at the top with the guy dropping some tips. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh set of eyes.

As a person who 'learnt' (can it be learnt?) to climb on outdoor crags in the Yorkshire area, I'm not sure if indoor walls are the best place to hone technique. They are the turbo-trainer of climbing. Something to do when you can't do your sport on the real stuff due to weather, light or location. A way of keeping the specific muscles in good shape (and meeting up with your climbing buddies for a chat). The best training for climbing is... climbing. So we do need indoor walls.
I recommend you try to find a quiet crag, put your sticky boots on and chalk bag on your belt and just move. Across, up, down. Concentrate on weight distribution, try not to overreach, keep moving, looking, thinking. Think 'vertical ballet'. 'Feel' your way across the rock.
A crowded, noisy indoor wall is not the best place. But, if you can find a quiet wall on a midweek afternoon then do some unroped traversing.
A bit 'wistful' there, just remembering the climbing years, must return to it one day.

the vids of her and Ondra is how good climbers position their bodies in relation to the holds

Next time I see her I will tell her she was mentioned at the same time as Ondra. She'll find that funny and flattering.

some nice 3D problems on that wall

Very good wall, they set interesting boulder routes fun and challenging. They have a lot in the middle grades between complete beginner and expert which is good as it really means there is something to push everybody whatever the ability.

As a person who 'learnt' (can it be learnt?) to climb on outdoor crags in the Yorkshire area, I'm not sure if indoor walls are the best place to hone technique. They are the turbo-trainer of climbing.

As a person who "learnt" to climb on long mountain routes in Scotland, cragging in the yorkshire area isn't the best place to hone technique. They basically training for proper mountain routes.

People climb for different reasons. Climbing indoors is a sport in itself and many many people do it. In fact, i'd say that there's a lot you can learn about technique from climbing indoors that you'll never be able to practise outdoors for the first year of your outdoor climbing career (there isn't much in the way of fancy body movement/technique required get up a Severe). I found indoor stuff great early on as a safe, easy to communicate place where I could get comfortable with basic rope skills and communication. I know what you mean though, indoor/outdoor are very very different things. I definitely think there is some transferability of skills though.

I'm not a massive fan of indoor walls (i don't like how busy they can get) but there's 2 professional Alpinists and a couple of everest summiteers in our club who all use indoor walls for training, honing technique and enjoyment, so it can't be all bad!

haha, you know what I mean though! Someone with the ability to lead 6b indoors will be busting out far more climbing "moves" than someone climbing a severe multi-pitch route, yet both can be attained within a similar sort of time (in my own experience anyway).

You'd need to be leading in the E's to get the same sort of technical difficulty you'd face on a 6a/b indoors.